Glancing At The Non-Playoff Teams: Could A Shakeup Be Coming In Atlanta?

While most of the NHL's teams will make the playoffs, there are of course 14 teams who will not qualify for post season play. When you consider that there are really only two or three teams who are currently outside of the postseason that have a chance at qualifying, it's obvious that there are several teams who are just completely ignored this time of year.

Here, we'll try to give a spotlight to that beleaguered bunch. Fans of these poor teams are already looking ahead to June and the NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles. Because of this, fans of the Tampa Bay Lightning at SBN's Raw Charge are trying to get a jump on the proceedings for the NHL's Draft Lottery, which will be held on April 13.

An excerpt:

The way the teams are picked are done with a lotto ball system. The basics behind it is that there are 14 balls, numbered 1-14. A draw is made with 4 lottery balls to create a code sequence of 4 number which was preassigned to the 14 teams according to a probability chart. There are 1001 possible combinations of the lotto balls, with 1 combination deemed null to make the %'s fair. As each pick is made the order of rankings get re-adjusted by one.

[...]

The Oilers who are so far below everyone else in the league are almost guaranteed to be sitting in last spot, so they are almost a given to get first pick in the lottery. That doesn't necessarily mean they'll pick first, because since 1995,  only 6 times out of the 14 times the lotto has been held (ignoring the year after the lockout) has the worst team actually picked 1st in the draft. If another team picks first, as per rule #2, Edmonton can only drop down to 2nd pick.

In Dallas, where just a few weeks ago it seemed like the Stars were going to make some noise down the stretch, they've been relegated to thinking about the draft as well. There's a tough question that's asked in many cities across the NHL this time of year: when your team is surely incapable of making the playoffs, do you root for your team to lose so they get a better draft pick?

It's a tough question, and it's one that Brad Gardner at SBN's Defending Big D asked this week:

Some say that once the writing is on the wall, the players slump their shoulders and apathy sets in. I disagree, but not entirely. It's natural for the compete level to come down a little bit, but once the puck drops and the in game battles commence, it's plain to see that they still want to win these games. You can't take the competitive nature out of professional athletes. Athletes don't care about draft position. The only way to tank in the NHL, or any sport for that matter, is to remove the players from the games themselves, and that's just not done in hockey.

In basketball you can shutdown an "ailing" superstar and essentially tank your season. You can trot a rookie QB in football and expect to continue losing. No one admits these things happen, but sometimes they do.

Besides, there are still story-lines to be played out. Can Kari Lehtonen continue to improve? Can Jamie Benn pass 20 goals in his rookie year? Can Mike Modano get back on the ice? Will Marty Turco be given a proper "goodbye home game"?

I'd like to see all of those things happen, and happen within the context of winning.

One fanbase that's used to this feeling this time of year is the oft-forgotten child of the New York sports scene, the Islanders. They've achieved that status after several years of failing to miss the playoffs and legal-wrangling surrounding their home. 

But it's not as if the Isles don't have a rich and storied tradition, and with a youth movement clearly in effect, fans are hopeful that this is the last season in which Isles fans will miss out on the late-season drama leading in to the postseason.

Here's Dominik at SBN's Lighthouse Hockey:

Cherish this moment in time, won't you? Because this should better be the last time in a while where the Islanders miss the playoffs without it being at least a marginal disappointment for most fans. (I know fan opinion is varied, but gimme a break here, I'm trying to really capture the spirit of the thing.)

That's not to say missing the postseason in 2010-11 isn't quite possible (and even quite likely, given how tight the OTL-era playoff races always are). But this April should be -- considering where the Isles are in the rebuild and where my mind was before the season -- the last time the more guarded among us are 100% comfortable with the Islanders falling short. Today we can take solace in the little pitter-patter of baby steps in the form of three very good players 21 and under, or perhaps five 25 and under. We can see things moving upward. We can see solid reasons for hope (on the ice, anyway) without feeling like something was wasted this season.

Over the next few weeks and into the postseason, we'll keep you updated on the perils of the 14 playoff-less teams. After all, they're hockey fans too.